//------------------------------// // Day for a Nera'ak // Story: To Call the Moon My Own // by That_Random_Pony //------------------------------// Nyla growled softly as she stood up from her stone bed, shaking the drowsiness away and shooting a stream of flames at her tail. She flapped her wings gently to spread the fire around her cave and warm herself. With another gust, the flames died out. Making her way outside, she stretched out her body, groaning with every crack of bone. As usual, she spread her wings and flew above the forest, using her keen eyes to look for a sizable breakfast. After hunting down a manticore and turning it into a meal, Nyla made her way back by ground. She had the entire area mapped out in her head, but she preferred to familiarize herself and make sure her territory was clear. She slashed a slab of stone to test her claws, but she froze halfway through her swing. Her eyes zeroed in on the small, almost inconspicuous grey scale on the back of her claw. For a moment, she only stared, but it wasn't long before she kept going. It's already starting… but he hasn't aged the final cycle. Nyla? Y-Yes, Reku'un? What are you thinking about? …it's nothing significant… as of yet, at the very least. You're seeing the signs too, aren't you? …yes. I've already started to drain of my natural color. And I think I'm starting the final growth. Just don't worry about it, alright? At least until I start sneezing down buildings. They laughed through their mental connection, but she stopped once she heard Tony gasp. What is it? Tony's jovial mood spread to Nyla, and she could feel him blocking a part of his thoughts. Reku'un, what is it? Nyla… do you remember what today is? Isn't it… Tuesday? He started laughing joyfully, and she felt his energy spike as he started flying over. Nyla yelped when she felt her partner land on her snout and hug her tightly. It's your birthday! …today? T-The day of my hatching was today? Yes! Don't tell me you forgot. Considering you haven't celebrated the day of your birth for ten years. Ahahahaha. I can hear the sarcasm. Good. Nyla chuckled lowly as she smacked his arm with her tail. Tony rubbed her eye crest as he smiled excitedly, nuzzling her at the same time. So what do you want to do? Fly? Wrestle? Relax? Burn something to the ground? I don't think so. And I've had enough time to relax. Perhaps it's time I stretched my wings. Ohh, so you want a race. You read my mind. Tony wasn't sure how they'd manage to race without being spotted by the population. And he knew that some of the ponies had already seen Nyla, because of the times he'd flown back and forth between Ponyville and Canterlot. Nightmare Night also played a part in introducing her to some of Ponyville's foals (who had seen him fight the hydra). And they were ALL excited to know she was nearby. He just wasn't sure if Nyla would be comfortable either. You're thinking quite hard. Tony chuckled and sat beside her, slowly rubbing the spines jutting from either side of her head. She snorted a puff of smoke and closed her eyes. Nyla… the only way you fly is if everypony in town sees you. I know that… and I also know you want that. I do want that. I want you to be able to fly and soar like you desire more than anything without having to worry about the ponies. I don't. You know they stand no chance. Nyla. You know what I mean. If you won't do this for me… then think about what's happening in six months. There are going to the thousands of Nera'ak coming from the Drigont and the last thing we want is everypony in a panic. Reku'un. She growled angrily, and he glared back sternly. Soon enough, her anger died off and turned into a hint of regret. Reku'un… I… I know why you want me to do it. I know above all that you want me to do it for my own good. So that I will feel comfortable around them… so that I may learn to trust them. I'm… I'm still very doubtful… but I'm willing to try. If, and only if, you're there. A smile grew on Tony's lips as he hugged her again. We're partners, remember? Closer than any brother or sister. In the end, all we'll have is each other. Then what are we doing here? They laughed together as Tony stood up with her. I'm gonna go and get everypony filled in, okay? Alright. I'll be here. Just be ready, okay? Okay. He gave her one last nuzzle before running off towards Ponyville. The sun was just above the city of Canterlot, and Tony could see the small town's residents leaving their homes. He waved to many of them, but kept jogging back to the library. Twilight was outside to get the mail when she spotted him coming over. "When did you wake up?" She called. "A while ago," Tony chuckled. "Hey, do you think you could get the girls and go to Fluttershy's house? I need to talk to everypony for a minute." She rose her brow. "Is something wrong?" Twilight questioned. "Not really," Tony awkwardly laughed, scratching his head. "I'll explain when I get there. I'm gonna go look for Rainbow Dash, so we'll meet you all there." "Alright…" Twilight slowly answered. "Okay. I'll see you there," Tony nodded, heading towards town. "And bring Spike!" Twilight watched him fly off to go look for their pegasus friend, then dashed inside and closed the door. "Luna?" An ethereal mist flowed out from her closet and took the shape of the lunar princess, and with a flash of her horn she was in her regular form. "What was he doing awake?" Luna frantically whispered. "I don't know!" Twilight replied. "I thought he'd be upstairs!" "At least he didn't walk in," the alicorn princess sighed. She put her hoof over her mouth and yawned sleepily. "Now, where is the tome?" Luna went to pick up the book she'd practically thrown when Twilight used her magic to store it in its shelf. "I think you've done enough reading for today," Twilight smiled. "You need to rest for tonight." "Nonsense," Luna stated, teleporting the book back over. "I can stay awake on an espresso or a spell." "And fall asleep whenever your magic gives out?" Twilight questioned. "Luna, you have enough time to read up on the subconscious during the night, even during night court." "But I must read so that I may have a… head start," Luna protested, letting out another yawn at the end. "Just another hour or so. I promise." Twilight wasn't so sure she would be gone by then, but she sighed and nodded. "Alright. But make sure you at least get back to Canterlot!" She warned. "So that Celestia knows you're not missing or anything." Luna smiled and nodded, heading upstairs to Tony's room while Twilight went out to find the others. She had no idea what he had in mind, but it sounded important enough to him. It had to be if he was gathering them all. "Hmm… I have been wondering what it would be like," Rainbow hummed, laying on a cloud while Tony floated beside her. "Think you can handle these bad girls?" Tony chuckled as he pushed her wing away. "I'll give you a run for your money," he smirked, flicking her ear. "So how about it?" Rainbow sat up and gave him an equally arrogant grin. "You're on," she said, standing up and stretching her wings. "Where are we gonna do it?" "Whitetail Woods," he answered. "But first, we need to meet the girls and fill 'em in." "Right. So uh, is she gonna be all moody when she sees us?" Rainbow nervously asked. "The mighty Rainbow Dash sounds anxious," Tony grinned, lowering with her as they flew over the town. She scoffed and flipped her mane to the side. "Hey, I ain't scared of some oversized lizard," she haughtily laughed. "I, uh, just wanna keep my feathers." Tony rolled his eyes with a laugh. "She won't try and roast you guys… well, if she wins she'll probably roast you," he snickered, laughing when she looked at him with fear. "I mean, she's gonna talk a lot of smack if she wins. Nera'ak like to boast about speed when they're her size." The boastful grin returned to the pegasus' face. "Ha! We'll see who's bragging," she replied, speeding up with him as they reached their meek friend's cottage. "Fluttershy! You there?" The door opened and Fluttershy stepped out with a bird perched on her head. "Hi, Rainbow. Hi, Tony," she smiled. "Is there something you two needed?" "I'll tell you when the girls get here," Tony said, glancing at the bird. "Isn't that them?" Fluttershy asked, pointing past them. The two looked back and saw their friends and Spike walking towards them, Pinkie bouncing towards the back. "Hey, guys!" She shouted, jumping over the small bridge and onto Tony's shoulders. "So why'd you call us all here? What's the secret?!" He chuckled and looked towards the Everfree. Nyla. Come on. Where should I land? Beside the cottage would be ideal. "Tooooony," Pinkie sang, shaking his head. "What are you telling herrrrr." "Does this have to do with Nyla?" Spike asked. "Yes," Tony smiled, peering over to the Everfree as his partner flew out from its canopy. "Here she comes." They glanced up as Nyla began to approach, her wings making gusts as she touched down beside Fluttershy's home. The frail pegasus hid behind Rainbow, taking acute notice that the dragoness was taller than her home. The others, aside from Pinkie and Spike, worriedly watched as she lifted her head and looked at each of them, snorting another plume of smoke through her nostrils. Nyla gave her descendant a small nod in greeting. "Sh-She don't look too happy to see us," Applejack whispered through a forced smile. "Don't worry," Tony smiled, gesturing for Nyla to come closer. The animals near the bank under the bridge fled as she stepped over it. "Today's a special day for her." Spike gasped and smiled. "Today's the day she hatched, isn't it?" he exclaimed. "Yep," Tony smiled, placing a hand on his partner's snout. "Today's the day I found her in that cave and hatched her." Pinkie gasped hard enough to lift herself to Nyla's height. "IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!" As long as it helps her understand. Easy. I'm only saying. "Yep. Today she turns… how old?" Rainbow asked, smiling sheepishly. Tony sighed as he rolled his eyes. "This is technically her 8th cycle, but she's still my age," he explained. "So either 16, or 25. Whichever you guys prefer." Surprisingly, Rarity gasped. "Oh, a sweet sixteen!" She squealed. "This is getting better and better with every second!" Pinkie yelled, bouncing around uncontrollably. "So what do you want us to do?! Setupapartybakeacakemakehera‘happybirthday’bannerwithherfaceon—" "Pinkie!" Tony laughed, silencing her mid-word dump. "Nyla doesn't do any of that." Her jaw fell, and she pulled it back up and jumped in his face. "How can you not have a party on your birthday?!" She screamed. "That's like having hay bacon and eggs without the orange juice!" "W-W-Well, she is a dr-dragon," Fluttershy stammered, looking over Rainbow's back to see the enormous dragoness. "She usually flies or wrestles or whatever she wants to do," Tony told them. "Today's her day, and we want to do something different." "A race!" Rainbow announced. "Dragon against pony! All the way through Whitetail Woods, then we shoot back down over to the Everfree Forest, and THEN, right back to the starting line, right where we had the Running of the Leaves!" "Well, that would mean-" "Yes," Tony sighed, holding a hand up to cut off Rarity's sentence. "Nyla has to fly over Ponyville so she could keep up in the race." The girls glanced to the dragoness, who simply looked away, then at each other. "Soooo, how are we going to help?" Twilight asked. "You guys go around town and advertise the race!" Rainbow explained. "The awesome Rainbow Dash versus what could be her most dangerous and terrifying opponent ever!" Tony heard Nyla laugh both physically and mentally. She's quite the salespony. Well how else do you thinks she motivates everypony to help her do all those crazy stunts? Point taken. "I can make flyers for everypony!" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping back onto Tony's shoulders. "And then I could pass them out, pass over Ponyville with my balloons, Rainbow could help and we could make sure everypony knows there's a race!" "And Ah could help set up the startin' line," Applejack said. "Where're the checkpoints gonna be?" "One's gonna be all the way on the other side of Whitetail Woods, and the other is near the Everfree, which is where they're gonna slingshot back," Tony told her, pointing just past the cottage. "Right around there." "Can do," Applejack nodded. "Ah'm gonna get Big Mac to help me out. Ya'll better get started, now." "Okay!" Pinkie smiled, reaching into her mane and pulling out paint, a paintbrush and paper. "C'mon! We have to hurry!" Everypony split up to start the preparations. Tony went with Pinkie and Rainbow to get the flyers done while Twilight and Rarity went around to tell most of the town there would be a race, keeping it vague to buy the others time. Applejack was already hauling building materials and tools with her older brother into Whitetail Woods. Fluttershy sent most of the animals she cared for into the woods to gather any birds and bring them to her, since she feared they would be frightened by a dragon flying over their heads. While they all scrambled to get everything ready before noon, Nyla brought herself to the outer rim of the Everfree, where she laid in wait for her partner and his friends to call for her. "Everypony's gonna be there! And I mean everypony," Rainbow emphasized, handing out flyers to the neighborhood. "So who's the sucker this time?" Thunderlane chuckled. "Trust me, this isn't some big-headed dope," Rainbow smirked. "Well, I don't know yet, but trust me. This race is gonna be one to die for!" "Yeah! I don't even know how to explain how super-duper-awesome this race is gonna be!" Pinkie giggled. "Well, gotta go!" She bounced down the street with flyers flowing out from her saddlebags. Meanwhile, Tony spread word to the flower sisters, Cherilee, Octavia and Vinyl, and collected the Cutie Mark Crusaders, since their sisters were busy spreading the word. "C'mon, what's the big deal?" Scootaloo groaned loudly, sitting on his shoulders. "Who's Rainbow Dash racing?" "Sorry, girls, can't tell ya," Tony smiled, laughing as they groaned once again. "C'mon, it's a surprise for everypony. I'm sure you'll love it." "But we wanna know!" Sweetie whined, sitting on his left shoulder. "We promise not to tell anypony else." "Yeah! It'll be our secret!" Applebloom smiled, hanging from his back. "Please, please, please, pleeeeease?" He debated whether or not he should tell them, and felt his heart melt with every little plea. "Alright, but you can't tell anypony. Pinkie Promise." "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," the three fillies quickly recited. "So who's Rainbow racing?!" Scootaloo questioned. Tony showed them his palm, and none of them understood until Sweetie gasped loudly. "Nyla! She's racing Nyla!" The little unicorn exclaimed. "Really?!" Applebloom shouted. "This is gonna be amazing!" "Yeah! Rainbow's gonna fly right past her in that race!" Scootaloo cheered. Tony glanced up at her with a smirk. "I wouldn't be too sure of that," Tony chuckled. "Nyla's got her own skills." "Yeah, but if Rainbow does her sonic rainboom, Ah don't think Nyla can keep up," Applebloom nervously laughed. He shook his head with a small chuckle, looking over to the crowd of ponies near the path to Whitetail Woods. A banner labeled Start hung above the beginning of the path, a black and white checkered line painted beneath it. It looked like most of the residents had gotten curious or excited enough to come. Tony grabbed Sweetie and Applebloom and set them down before doing the same with Scootaloo. "Where's Rainbow?" Applebloom asked. "Ah thought she'd be warming' up or somethin'" "She's probably helping Applejack and Big Mac set up the checkpoint," Tony shrugged, walking over with the fillies. "Hm… why don't you three wait near the finish line for Nyla?" "Really?!" Scootaloo squealed. "We get to see her?!" "Up close?!" Sweetie exclaimed. "Again?!" Applebloom questioned, getting on top of Scootaloo. "Of course," Tony chuckled. "Don't worry, she's not too hostile to little ones." "Hey, we're not—" "Come on!" Applebloom shouted, cutting off Sweetie Belle as she zoomed off with them. Tony laughed as he watched them disappear into the crowd, and he turned his attention to town as he smelled Rainbow's scent. The sky blue mare flew over to him and landed just a few feet away, trotting over with a large smile. "That's everypony!" She reported. "Applejack's almost done with the checkpoint, so you should probably get Nyla here. I need to warm up, too." "I think we should wait until we're about to start the race," Tony said. "Keep everypony in the dark and make it dramatic." Rainbow shrugged. "Oh! Did you wanna do laps or just one straight shot?" She asked. "Hmm… three laps," he said. "First one's to get everypony alright with her being around, second to get the hype up, and third to get everypony screaming." "Didn't think there was a science to this," Rainbow chuckled sheepishly. He laughed softly and shook his head. "I'm just hoping." They quickly turned to the road as Pinkie came zooming towards them, a bullhorn in hoof. "ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR A MIND-BLOWING RACE?!" Pinkie screamed in their faces. Tony uncovered his ears and rubbed the side of his head. "Yes, Pinkie," Rainbow laughed. "Is everything ready?" "Let me check!" She zoomed off into the woods, then zipped back to them. "Yep! Applejack just finished it up! They're gonna watch from the checkpoint, okay?" "Alright," Tony nodded. "Are the girls here yet?" "They'll be here any minute, so come on!" Rainbow said, pushing him towards the crowd. "Just two minutes to warm up and then we call her." Tony nodded and went to wait by the starting line, the crowd nearly doubling in size since he last checked. The Crusaders were still giddily talking to each other as they waited for Nyla, but he could see their urge to spill it out. Rainbow was stretching her wings out and doing a few push-ups on them to get herself ready, and Tony could feel Nyla preparing as well. Ready? As ready as I'll ever be, Reku'un. "Pinkie!" She spun around to look at Tony, and he gave her a small nod. "Aaaaaaalright, everypony!" Pinkie announced from her balloon, her bullhorn in hoof. "Today we have a special, funtacular race! Our very own Rainbow Dash! The fastest pegasus in all of Ponyville!" The crowd whistled and cheered for their neighborhood speedster, chanting her name as she waved and did a few moves in the air. She landed by the starting line and flipped her mane to the side, trotting in place and smiling. "And now, something you've never seen before!" Pinkie said, hanging from her balloon. "Rainbow's raced earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, even griffons! But now, she's racing something bigger, and way more scary than anypony or griffon!" That's your cue, Nyla. Alright. Here I come. "Introduciiiiiiing, Nyla!" Pinkie cheered, pointing towards the Everfree. He heard several gasps as the ponies recognized Nyla's form, but the Crusaders and the girls all cheered as the blood red dragoness flew closer. She flapped her wings to slow herself enough to land behind them all, the ground shaking when she touched down. The residents were in pure shock and terror as she lifted her head to show her true size, and some shied away. Tony smiled when the trio of fillies galloped over to her and hugged one of her large legs. The dragoness softly smiled and lowered her head to nuzzle her descendant. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity trotted up beside Tony and stomped their hooves to help cheer. "So far so good," Twilight whispered. "Nopony's running yet, at least." "Not with three little fillies hugging a dragon," Tony replied, just as quiet. "Okie-dokie-lokie! Is everypony ready for a good race?!" Pinkie shouted. The crowd slowly answered with mixed amounts of hype. Even though it was only the six mares, Crusaders, Spike, Tony and Cherilee still yelling like a miniature crowd, some of the others were yelling for the race to start. "C'mon, everypony! She doesn't bite… I think," the party mare laughed. "On one, everypony yell GO!" "C'mon!" Tony shouted. "Let's start from ten!" "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!" The girls shouted. "Six!" Some ponies started chanting. "Five!" Rainbow bent her hooves and got low. "Four! Three! Two!" Nyla spread far apart and her body leaned forward. "One!" "GOOOOOOO!"